The modern consumer of processed food is seeking to achieve a high quality food product with a minimum of preparation. This desire has led to the widespread utilization of processed foods and microwave ovens in the average American household.
It is commonplace to warm or heat various pre-baked baked goods prior to serving for consumption. Such a heating step could be considered somewhat optional for shelf-stable or refrigerated baked goods, but is required for frozen baked goods. It would also be required to heat baked goods, such as pizza shells, which serve as a crust for various toppings and are served hot from an oven.
While microwave energy will rapidly heat most food products, not all microwave heated products are able to deliver the same quality as is characteristic of the more traditional conduction oven heated counterpart. This lack of quality is quite prevalent in the area of microwave reheated baked goods. Problems have arisen with the use of microwave energy for heating wheat-based food products, such as bread and roll products. Bread and roll produCts are known to become unpalatable after short exposure to microwave energy. The term "palatable" or "palatability" refers to the eating quality of food products. Palatable food products are agreeable to the taste and possess an appetizing appearance and texture. "Bread" and "roll" products are meant to refer to fully-baked, leavened, baked goods, which can be a variety of forms including bread loaves, dinner rolls, pizza crusts, bagels, etc.
Upon exposure to microwave energy, the crust of bread and roll products becomes extremely tough and/or soggy as the water present within the baked good migrates to the surface crust but does not evaporate. The crust of such microwave-exposed products may become so tough that it is difficult to tear such products. The bread product itself may become soggy or develop hard lumpy portions. The crumb of the products becomes rubbery and gummy and is difficult to chew. Consequently, bread and roll products upon exposure to microwave energY are not palatable.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,560,559 and 4,463,020 to Ottenberg discuss the preparation of yeast-raised, wheat-based food products having improved resistance to the deterioration caused by microwave heating. The earlier patent accomplished this improvement by the incorPoration of from about 5 to about 60 percent by weight of the weight of the wheat flour of a long-grain rice flour. The later patent accomplished the improvement by the incorporation of a similar amount of a rice starch, corn starch or wheat starch possessing an average crystal size less than 20 microns.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,180 to Cochran et. al., discloses improved shelf-stable, refrigerated or frozen baked goods having improved microwave tolerance as a result of the addition of a chemically-modified starch to the dough composition. A chemically-modified starch, preferably potato starch, is incorporated into the dough at from 5 to 30 bakers' percent.
There is, however, a need in the food art to find additional or alternative techniques for producing shelf-stable, refrigerated or frozen baked goods, which will substantially retain their palatability upon microwave warming or heating. In the case of frozen baked goods which are to be microwave-heated, it would be beneficial if the product could be taken out of the freezer and immediately heated by microwave energy without the need of defrosting or thawing prior to microwaving.
The practice of this invention is effected by the use of high levels of reducing agents which are known in the art as ingredients which function as dough conditioners and which reduce the mix-time required to develop a dough. U.S. Pat. No. 3,053,666 to Henika et al. discloses the use of L-cysteine and related compounds for this purpose in combination with high levels of oxidizing agents such as potassium bromate. The use of onion and garlic powder in place of L-cysteine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,900 to Porter. None of this prior art, however, relates to improving the microwaveability of baked goods.